Naofumi Iwatani, Megumin, Satou Kazuma. Fanfiction 3. Chapter 13: Dust
Morning arrived with our heroes sleeping soundly, on the other hand, the three heroes church gathered all its highly ranked members in its secret library. Everything was silent before the storm, except for in Belzberg. The news of the child torturer's escape made the whole populace go on high alert than they even did while at war with the demon king. As per their agreement, Robin wasn't allowed to reveal the truth, as Vanir happily fed on the raging anger spreading throughout the kingdom. He had aimed for shame, with the little stunt, but anger was acceptable.
(Moi will let Robin reveal the truth or let her come up with a suitable lie if this anger turns into despair) Vanir thought to himself as he sat in the guildhall, happily feasting on the anger.
The only person that wasn't angry was a middle-aged man with blonde hair and a patchy beard. He wasn't angry, because last night, this man in a red jacket, started a drinking contest with the succubus Lolisa, which he lost by a mile.
As all the adventurers vacated the guild Vanir walked over to the sleeping drunk man, picked him up, and carried him back to the shop.
"What have you done to him?" Wiz asked in shock as she saw Vanir walk in with a drunken man.
"Moi picked up this drunk delinquent and carried him here so that you can use one of your anti-hungover potions so that Moi can revel in the shame that is sure to re-manifest once he is awake," Vanir explained.
"But do you have a hand in getting him drunk?" Wiz interrogated, quite well known with how her friend could operate.
"As a matter of fact Moi does have a hand in his current state, and it is necessary that he is sober by the next 10 minutes, or Moi won't be able to revel in the tons of shame that he will produce," He continued, as he put the man down in a chair, next to the tea-table.
"Hmm, I feel you are up to a scheme, but he looks so pathetic so I might as well help him sober up," Wiz reluctantly agreed as she got an anti-hangover potion, and tilted the man's head back, and poured it down his throat.
On the label, it said: Created by Demon kingslayer, Kazuma Satou, and patented by Vanir. In reality, the potion was actually made solely by Vanir but saying that Kazuma made it was great marketing.
"Cough, cough, What is going on, oh sir Vanir, did I win against Lolisa?" He asked in a hopeful
tone.
"No, you lost, which means you are barred from the succubus café for the next month," Vanir happily informed.
"NO!" He roared in anguish as he slammed his hands down on the table, in frustration.
"Ah, disappointment, what a wonderful dark emotion, bested only by shame," Vanir commented as if he was eating a delicious piece of cake.
"I am sorry to ask this of you, but could you please vacate the tea table, I have guests coming over soon," Wiz timidly requested.
"I am a little hungry, wouldn't it be okay for me to stick around for just a little food?" The man prodded.
"I don't think that would be wise," Wiz said, as she tried to gesture for the man to leave.
"Nonsense, I am actually on good terms with everyone in Axel," He countered, as someone came in the door.
"WHAT IS DUST DOING HERE!" An angry female voice erupted as she saw who sat in the chair.
"Hey, Yunyun… you look great… uhm… how long has it been?" Dust asked as he tried to make himself one with the chair he was sitting in.
"Oh! Let me see, ONLY A YEAR! YOU BETTER PAY FOR MEIMEI'S CHILD SUPPORT!" Yunyun went on a tirade, as her crimson eyes basically shone two cones of furious red light on the now very frightened man called Dust.
"T-there is a very, a-and I mean a very good reason for that, you see," Dust was interrupted as a white haired young girl, with a black haired girl burst into the shop, quickly followed by a brown-haired tanuki woman. These people were in order, Faitfore, Meimei, and Lynn.
"FOUND YOU!" Lynn declared menacingly, as she pointed a threatening finger at Dust, that was in the process of trying to becoming one with his chair, it didn't work.
"Found you, Master," Faitfore happily stated as she went in for a hug, this made the two women that were staring daggers at him switch over to mild glares.
"I order you to release your hold on my father and move away from him Faitfore," Meimei tried to order in a theatric fashion, but Faitfore clearly didn't want to play along, since she just kept embracing Dust.
"HEY, you are supposed to listen to me!" Meimei complained, as she tried to pry Faitfore off Dust, she didn't succeed, because Faitfore is actually a white dragon, and even though she is currently in her human form, she still has most of her strength.
"I only need to listen to you when Master isn't around," Faitfore informed, much to Meimei's dismay.
"Unfair I also want to sit on-" Meimei was interrupted as Dust hoisted Meimei onto his lap, and lovingly ruffled her jet black hair.
"Truce, while they are here?" Dust mouthed to Lynn and Yunyun as he pointed to his newly acquired shields.
"Only because they are here," Yunyun answered as she did her best to stifle her anger.
Lynn on the other hand walked up to Dust and threw a bag of cookies to each girl, and as they were distracted by the treat, she slapped him so hard she left a red handprint on his cheek. "You didn't go on guard duty yesterday night, and now that monster escaped," Lynn reprimanded.
"Wait! He escaped?!"
"Yes! The guy you were supposed to guard escaped last night, because you were out drinking," Lynn said, with clear disappointment in her voice.
"B-but, someone told me that it was an early guard change, with proper papers and everything," He defended.
"Ugh, and you were too lazy to double check with the command, honestly why do I even expect anything from you at this point, you are going to be arrested and interrogated when they find you, you know that right," Lynn said, now wearing a completely apathetic expression.
"I-I am s-sorry,"
"Don't give me that shameful expression, when your words end up meaning nothing in the end, do something that actually can make me believe you have changed, I want to see action Dust, not words," Lynn said as she stared down at him.
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"Moi has a proposal if you would like to hear it?" Vanir shot in as he stepped in front of the shameful Dust.
"Couldn't hurt to at least hear you out sir," Dust solemnly responded.
"If thou wishes to return to the kingdom with the escapee in chains, thou must first help me come in contact and befriend a new potential customer currently in another country, the way there is treacherous, and thou will have to bring a spear, but thou should have the required equipment to make it through unharmed," Vanir proposed.
(Hmm, I think just getting away from Belzberg at the moment is enough to make me say yes, but it is sir, and he always has a trick up his sleeve, and this will most certainly not be free) Dust thought to himself.
"How much is this going to cost?" Dust decided to ask.
"Only 10 strands of your familiar's hair," Vanir responded as he pointed to Faitfore still munching down on cookies, while Meimei laid the on the floor, completely passed out.
"And when will we be back in Axel?" He asked nervously.
"By the end of the day," Vanir answered.
"Ok, I will come with you, if it means I can recapture him," Dust answered as he rose from his chair.
"Are we going on an adventure Master?" Faitfore asked clearly intrigued.
"No, I am goi-"
"Yes, you wandering fortune, you must travel with your master to keep him safe," Vanir shot in, as he brought out three giant bags filled to the brim with food, and a decent spear.
"Ok then, seems like we are going on an adventure after all Faitfore, you will have to carry the bags though," Dust shot in, and she didn't complain as she comically strapped all the bags to her back, carrying them with ease.
"Now listen closely, hold each other's hands, and don't let go of each other no matter what, or else Moi's business plans will vanish quicker than the money I leave in Wiz's care," Vanir said seriously as he opened up a portal.
"M-master, don't go into that portal," Faitfore immediately responded as she did her best to hold him back.
"Sir, where does this portal lead?" Dust scrutinized, after seeing her fearful reaction to it.
"It leads to a middle ground that we need to navigate to reach Moi's new potential customer, do not fret, as long as thou are with Moi and thou hang on to each other, no harm will befall you, that is a promise from Moi," Vanir reassured them.
"Hmm, Sir might be a Devil with schemes of his own, but he promised that we would be safe so let's go Faitfore," Dust said as he patted her on the head.
"Mm, NO! And there is nothing you can do to convince me!" She yelled in continued defiance
"Moi's new potential customer is an excellent chef, and we are bringing many top-quality ingredients with us," Vanir shot in.
"What are we waiting for Master let's go," She said as she picked Dust up and jumped into the portal, with all the ingredients like it was nothing.
"Where does that portal lead?" Yunyun asked.
"To Hell," Vanir said before he popped into the portal himself, making it shut itself behind him.
"WHAT!" Lynn and Yunyun erupted in worried unison.
Meanwhile with Kazuma
(Hmm, how do I get out of this without making any of them wake up?) Kazuma pondered to himself as he rested on top of a blue filolial, with his wife clutching onto his right arm, as she had buried her face into his neck, with Iris mirroring this action, and to make it even harder to escape, Fitoria was laying on top of his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.
Luckily for Kazuma, two stray feathers from the nearby filolials got swept up by the wind and landed perfectly on top of Iris' and Megumin's noses. This caused them to having to momentarily let go of Kazuma's arms, giving him an opportunity to use his skill {Escape}. When Kazuma had gotten over to the now dead campfire, he realized that Fitoria still clutched onto him.
"Don't leave me," Fitoria muttered as she started to wake up.
(I wonder what your real master was like, and what happened to him) Kazuma thought to himself as he looked down at the little girl.
Suddenly a black void appeared in front of Kazuma, causing him to jump backward, with the still half-asleep Fitoria. He drew Chunchunmaru and got ready for battle, but then Dust plopped out of the portal face first, quickly followed by Faitfore carrying a ridiculous amount of food with her.
"Dragon! DRAGON!" Fitoria yelled waking the whole camp as she went into a battle stance in front of Kazuma, staring daggers at the little girl in front of her.
"How dare you enter my domain, dragon," Fitoria spat out, clearly offended by her presence.
"What's your problem?" Faitfore asked, very confused by her sudden hostility.
"Don't play dumb with me, you are clearly an elder dragon, and this is obviously the domain of the filolials, how dare you come here so nonchalantly?" Fitoria interrogated, as a strong aura started to emanate from her, and the other filolials started to surround Dust and Faitfore.
"Umm, what is a filolial?" Faitfore asked clearly confused.
"Please settle down, we come in peace, Moi can assure you of that," Vanir said as he elegantly walked out of the portal before he closed itself behind him.
"Vanir, what are you doing here?" Kazuma blurted out.
"Moi is here to establish a friendly business relationship with your eldest son," Vanir explained.
"Master, do you know these people?" Fitoria questioned still focusing on Faitfore.
"I know Vanir, and I feel like I recognize the girl, but the dude with his face planted into the ground doesn't ring a bell," Kazuma answered.
"Master, wake up, we have arrived," Faitfore said as she started to shake him awake.
"Huh, where am I, are they gone now?" Dust nervously asked as he clung back onto Faitfore.
"Oh, Moi must have to wipe some of his memories, being in Hell for 20 seconds was seemingly more than he could handle," Vanir said as he placed his hand over Dust's scared eyes.
"Ok then, seems like we are going on an adventure after all Faitfore, you will have to carry the bags though," Dust suddenly blurted out, after Vanir removed his hand.
"Wonderful, Moi didn't remove too much," Vanir proudly stated, as he backed off.
"Ah, Dust and Faitfore, you can relax Fitoria, they are friends," Kazuma informed as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Very well Master, but I am still suspicious about this elder dragon, I hope you understand," Fitoria said as she wordlessly ordered the other filolials to back off.
"It's fine, I understand," Kazuma retorted, as he looked around to see many confused and shocked people standing on the sideline, with one notable exception, his wife's burning red eyes that silently told him "We need to talk, NOW!"
"Moi has no interest in business with the elder brat, so go and talk with your explosion obsessed wife," Vanir hurried Kazuma along with a wave, with Fitoria following behind him, as he grabbed a hold of Megumin's arm and led her into a secluded spot away from everyone else.
(Why was Fitoria clinging onto Kazuma?) Raphtalia wondered.
"So what is your business with me, eh… Vanir right?" Naofumi threw out there, a little less on guard since the mask was similar to what his father usually wore.
"Ah yes, Devil of the shield, wonderful to make your acquaintance," Vanir politely stated in a bow.
Naofumi instantly narrowed his eyes on Vanir, as he scoffed at the name Vanir used for him.
"Moi meant no offense, that title just seemed like the most impressive one, you see Moi is myself a Devil, or more precisely a Duke of Hell, and Moi has in the past had a most profitable business relationship with your father," Vanir happily explained.
"How did you find us?" Naofumi questioned.
"First, Moi marked the merchandise Moi had most recently sold to your father, with an interdimensional tracker, and from there it was a short trip through Hell, so would you now care to take a look at the merchandise I have to offer?"
"And what would the prize be, my firstborn child or something else cliché," Naofumi mocked.
"Hahaha, you think a great Devil as myself would have any interest in a little human brat, NO! What Moi is proposing would be most profitable for us both, Moi will provide you training with a spear master, and white dragon parts for your shield, in exchange for only selling to Moi or Moi's associates, while you operate in the kingdom of Belzberg," Vanir relayed as he gestured to Faitfore and the still dazed Dust.
(Belzberg, a kingdom I can't travel to or have ever been to, in exchange for more dragon parts for my shield, and training with a spear master would help me deal with that idiot Motoyasu, he doesn't know I can't travel to Belzberg, therefore I would win out in this deal) Naofumi thought to himself as he looked at the little girl casually carrying a ridiculous amount of weight while doing her best to get the blonde man out of his dazed state.
"First, I will test these materials, and IF what you are offering lives up to your claims, then you can consider your part of the deal fulfilled, and when I am in Belzberg I will only make business deals with you and your associates, if the value of the deal exceeds the value of these 5 gold coins," Naofumi said as he presented 5 gold coins.
"Hmm, that would be around 5 million Eris, that change to the deal should be fine, Moi accepts your terms, is the delinquent properly awake now, walking treasure?" Vanir requested as he pulled out a green potion bottle.
"Why are you asking her, shouldn't I be able to tell you if I am fine by myself?" Dust interjected, clearly offended by Vanir's demeaning words.
"Good," Vanir responded as he grabbed ahold of Dust's white-blonde hair, popped the potion bottled open, and forced him to swallow all of its contents.
"Ugh, cough, ANG, cough," Dust twisted around on the ground as he held his throat with both hands.
"What did you do to Master?!"
"Worry not wandering pile of Eris, Moi only gave him an extremely potent experience potion, he should be fine in a minute," Vanir reassured her as Dust suddenly stopped rolling around, and stood up.
"Huh, I feel like strangely normal," Dust stated as he inspected his hands, before he looked at Naofumi, and saw Iris and Darkness standing behind him.
"Kazuma, good to see you bud, when did you color your hair jet-black, not saying that it doesn't look good, just asking," Dust fumbled with his words.
"Do I really look that similar to my dad?" Naofumi directed the question at Iris and Darkness.
"Well, it's hard to mistake you for anything but his son," They answered in astonishing unison.
When Naofumi turned around to face Dust again, he was right up in his face, studying him intensely.
"You sure do take after your father!" Dust stated proudly as he gave a good smack to Naofumi's shield, accidently hitting the green gem, causing both of them to pass out, with Dust's hand now firmly stuck to the gem.
Meanwhile with Megumin, Kazuma and Fitoria
"Is there anything you want to tell me before I begin?" Megumin inquired in a threatening tone.
"Indeed, how can you be as irresponsible as to use explosion magic while PREGNANT!?" Kazuma angrily shot off, causing her to take an involuntary step backwards.
"I… HEY, Wait for a second, I am the one that is supposed to be angry here, you didn't-"
"NO! This isn't about me, this is about not causing harm to our unborn child, I don't care that you wanted to let off your explosion, you have to hold back on your urges while you are pregnant, I am mph…" Kazuma was interrupted as Megumin put her hand on his mouth, her eyes burning red with emotions.
"Y-you… d-didn't… tell me… about… M-E-D-E-A!" Megumin said awfully slow, not breaking eye contact with him as she pressed her lips into a frown.
(OH SHIT!) Kazuma thought to himself, as his legs gave out, the force exerted from Megumin's arm that was pressed to his mouth, caused him to fall backwards, causing Fitoria to catch him.
"Master, are you ok?" Fitoria asked in a concerned tone.
"C-could you please leave us alone for a bit Fitoria," Kazuma weakly requested.
"But, what about the dragon?" Fitoria shot in.
"J-just go, keep an eye on her if you want,"
"Ok, Master," Fitoria retorted as she gently put him down, before she left the couple alone.
Megumin looked at Kazuma sitting cross-legged, while staring into the ground, not making any effort to move his head to meet her gaze. This continued for a minute, in almost complete silence, until Megumin's stomach made a loud sound, but none of them laughed. Megumin walked past Kazuma, but she suddenly stopped when she was directly behind him.
Kazuma pulled his legs close to his chest as he let his forehead rest on his knees. A lump formed in his throat, as silent tears started to fall down his cheeks. He hadn't felt so weak before, when he had told everything to his son he felt a lot of guilt, but now, he didn't feel like moving another inch, she could leave him right now and he felt like he would just sit there and rot away.
Megumin went down on her knees, and shot her arms in under his own and wrapped her hands around his now wet chest as she pulled him close to herself. Putting her mouth close to his left ear.
"I won't leave your side until that crazy bitch is gone for good, I don't want to lose you like that again, it was worse than seeing you die all those times, me not knowing if I would ever see you again, not being able to ever again hold onto you as you carried me on your back, to always be filled with regret about the things we didn't get to do, because we both were too shy and stupid," She ranted, as she could feel Kazuma grab ahold of her hands with his own.
Megumin leaned backwards onto the ground as she slowly forced Kazuma to lean back with her. His legs starting to stretch out until Megumin lay flat on the ground with Kazuma laying on top of her, both looking up into the trees above, until Kazuma rolled off her. Laying on his left side, and Megumin on her right. He gave her a serious expression as he finally met her gaze.
"Please give me up, if it is between me and our children, please promise me that," Kazuma begged as he squeezed her hands tightly in his own.
"I won't let it come to-"
"PROMISE ME!" Kazuma interrupted, almost looking angry now.
"NO! WE WILL ALL GO HOME TOGETHER!" Megumin yelled at him, now with tears in her eyes.
Kazuma shot a hand to each side of her head and looked at her with a hard and serious expression. "I am saying IF, IF it between-" Kazuma wasn't able to utter one more word as Megumin smashed her lips against his to shut him up.
She held him tight to herself as she did her best to get both his and her mind off the promise he wanted her to make.
(It's not going to be necessary, we are ALL going to get through this) Megumin thought to herself, as she tried to redirect her focus onto the kiss.
"Master come quick, the shield hero and the red newcomer has collapsed," Fitoria interrupted, causing Megumin to pull Kazuma up in a princess carry as they ran back to camp at a blistering speed, with Fitoria right behind them.
"What happened?" Kazuma and Megumin asked in unison, as they stopped next to the passed out Naofumi and Dust.
"Dust touched Naofumi's shield and then they both collapsed," Iris answered as she inspected Dust's hand still stuck to the green gem on the shield.
"Have you tried to separate them?" Megumin asked.
"We don't know if it is a curse or something else that spreads via touch, so we have left them be for now, and their breathing seems normal, so we can hopefully take our time assessing the situation," Iris retorted as the Naofumi's base shield changed to a more ominous, black and red shield.
"The rage shield activated!" Kazuma and Raphtalia said in unison as they looked over at Filo.
"Why are you staring so much at me?" Filo asked a little confused.
"I don't see any red eyes,"
"And I can't see her chest glow purple,"
"Puah, false alarm then," Raphtalia sighed in relief.
"You just raised a flag!" Kazuma shouted as Naofumi's rage shield erupted into flames that started to envelop Dust, while Filo's eyes turned red, as she went in for a magical claw attack at the passed out Dust, only to be intercepted by Faitfore at the last second as she simply swatted her away like a fly, sending her flying into the trees 50 meters away.
"Megumin quick! Give me Chomusuke," Kazuma ordered as he held out his right hand, while Megumin retrieved her from her hat and plopped her into his outstretched hand.
Filo, now in her filolial form shot out from the trees as she went in for an attack at Faitfore. {BIND!} Kazuma chanted as a black hairball shot out of Chomusuke's mouth and quickly restrained the big bird. This forced Faitfore to change from her defensive position, as she caught the angriest feather ball in her life.
Meanwhile inside the shield
"DISAPPEAR, I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" An enraged deep voice boomed, waking Dust, as he stood face to face with Naofumi, his eyes shining an intense shade of red.
"HEY, look at that, your eyes shine red when you are feeling strong emotions, any doubt about you not being related to Megumin, count it as officially gone," Dust said casually as he dusted himself off.
"I ORDERED YOU TO LEAVE, I DON'T NEED YOU HERE!" The same voice boomed again, but Naofumi's lips didn't move.
"Wait, that isn't Naofumi talking, this aura, it's a dragon's aura," Dust deduced.
"LEAVE!" The voice roared.
"Why would I do that, you were the one that pulled me in here, you felt it right, you felt that I could understand you, that I can help you," Dust stated as flames started to envelope his body.
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, I AM A DRAGON, THE MIGHTIEST CREATURE OF THEM ALL!" The dragon roared as the flames burned more intensely.
"You can't let this shame you feel for being defeated end up consuming you, it's okay to feel ashamed, but it's not healthy for you to turn that into anger, do you not see that you are clearly affecting my friend's son in a very negative way for both of you," Dust said calmly as he gestured to Naofumi.
"NO! I AM ANGRY JUST AS HE IS, HE ALSO WANTS TO GET BACK AT THAT DISRESPECTFUL SWORD HERO, I HAVE BEEN WITH HIM, I CAN SEE HIS EMOTIONS, THEY ARE THE SAME AS MINE," The dragon roared, as the flames enveloping Dust started to cover his head.
"What's your name?" With those simple words, the flames covering Dust fizzled out as Naofumi fell to his knees, his eyes no longer shining bright red, but now back to their normal green, as he took deep breaths.
"I-it is-is Re-Re-Revalon!" A little boy with dark purple hair cried as he hugged Dust tightly, and cried into his chest, as Dust gently embraced the little boy.
"It's ok, let it all out," Dust said in a reassuring tone, as he patted him on the back with one hand, and gestured for Naofumi to get closer with the other.
Naofumi slowly walked upon the pair, from an angle that both of them should be able to easily see him coming, as the little boy continued to cry into Dust's shirt.
"So you are the dragon that I talked to while on the ship?" Naofumi interrupted, causing the boy to jump away from Dust as he hid his face away from Naofumi.
"Naofumi, you should try and talk to him, remember he is a relatively young dragon, and his name is Revalon," Dust said as he inched away from Naofumi.
"Also, try to connect with him, instead of fighting over control, that is just going to end up being tiresome for you both, and none of you benefit from it," Dust shot in before Naofumi had even taken a step towards Revalon.
Naofumi gave an understanding nod as he slowly walked towards Revalon.
"Don't come any closer!" Revalon suddenly yelled, causing Naofumi to momentarily stop, but he still didn't face Naofumi, so Naofumi kept walking closer.
"I told you to STOP!" Revalon roared as he turned around, and stared daggers at him, Naofumi didn't stop immediately, but he instead took another step forward as he proceeded to sit down in front of the boy.
"Now that you are looking at me, let's talk," Naofumi said as he meet the harsh stare of Revalon with his own.
"You are not on the same level as him, and I can't imagine you ever will be," Revalon stated, as he pointed at Dust.
"Why is that the case, Revalon?" Naofumi inquired, his tone stern, but still calm.
"He respects me, with you I only have a common enemy that we both want to destroy, you have done nothing but use me up to now," Revalon said, clearly a little offended.
"So that is why you have tried to fuel my anger, so that you can gain control over me?" Naofumi guessed.
"Correct, but I have to say, your will is stronger than I had thought it would be, however affecting your gluttonies filolial is a good substitution," Revalon stated with a mischievous smile.
"Hmm, well we do have to co-exist now, how could I possibly gain your respect Revalon, so that we can work together when facing enemies?"
"Did you give the remains of my body a proper burial, the parts of me that you didn't absorb into your shield that is?"
"What I didn't absorb, we burned to stop the plague that originated from your body, I don't know if that is something you deem a proper burial?"
"No, it is a most respectful way for my remains to be handled, my mother fostered my body in the flames, and it ended in the flames, more than adequate," Revalon said, clearly satisfied with the answer.
"The plague was more than just your rotting body though, why did I end up with your consciousness and the sword hero didn't?"
"Simple Shield Hero, when the sword hero defeated me he didn't absorb my core, he just left my body there like I was a common monster, no less, apparently nothing on my body was of value to him, such disgrace and shame festered in me for a long time, and when you arrived I lashed out with my remaining body, only seeing a disgusting hero in-front of me, but you might have some merit to form a covenant with me," Revalon told Naofumi.
"A covenant?" Naofumi asked, clearly not familiar with the word.
"It means you might have a chance of getting to an agreement with him, currently I have a covenant with Faitfore," Dust shot in.
"Which means you are this dragon's Master, anything else would be unacceptable," Revalon said, which Dust answered with a quick nod.
"Ok, I would like to form a covenant with you Revalon, where I can call upon your power, without you resisting me, or trying to take control, but rather work together with me as a comrade to keep each other alive," Naofumi proposed.
"Hmm, and when would you call upon my power?" Revalon questioned
"In dire situations would qualify in my mind, for example when one of my allies or myself are in danger of losing their life to an attacker, then as a purely defensive option, I will resort to your strength before I utilize the Rage shield, do you deem this as a fair covenant?" Naofumi prodded
"No, this does not account for when or if you get stronger, to the point that I become obsolete, then I am just one of your many redundant abilities, I wish for an more active role as your {Dragon Shield}, I would be able to take a form similar to that of my old self when possible, and help you be offensive, not to the degree of the rage shield, but it would only cost you Skill Points to use me," Revalon counter-offered.
"Would you be able to get along and work with Filo, because if not then that would be a huge detriment to my party's teamwork, and if we are in a non-combat situation, do you still use my Skill Points?"
"Shield hero, I will do my best to try and form a somewhat ok partnership with your filolial, and as for your second question, Skill Points are used when I either change my form, or when I use some of my abilities, so pulling me out will cost you Skill Points, but it will not cost anything to return to your shield's base form, now with this information are you ok to form a covenant with me, Shield Hero?"
"If you become too rowdy, or if I need to use another shield as the occasion requires, you must without protest return back and give me full control, these are the conditions for my covenant," Naofumi said as he stretched his hand out.
"Very well, I hereby accept this covenant with the Shield Hero, with a great Dragon Master as our witness," Revalon said as he grabbed ahold of Naofumi's hand and shook it thrice.
The next moment Dust and Naofumi shot up from the ground and stood to their feet.
"Ouch, he actually burned me," Dust complained as he checked himself over, this caused Faitfore to jump on him and started to cry on his burn wounds, as she spread the tears around on his skin with her silver hair. The cursed wounds created by the shield quickly vanished when Faitfore brushed over them.
Naofumi didn't get much time to inspect the occurrence, before he was tackled to the ground by Melty, Raphtalia and Megumin, while Kazuma went over to cut Filo free from her constraints, as he checked Filo over for any possible injuries, she might have received.
"Faitfore I am fine now. So Naofumi you wanted to learn how to effectively fight against a spear user right?" Dust shot-in as Naofumi finally was let free from the hug/inspection.
"Yeah, there is a selfish dumbass out there that uses a spear, and I would prefer to be able to knock him out if he ends up being too stubborn to talk things through," Naofumi informed.
"Magical spear I presume," Naofumi gave a quick nod to Dust's guess, "Ok, but there are still some basic weaknesses you can exploit, come I will show you," Dust said as he picked up the spear Vanir had brought along with them, with everyone following after him, except for Iris, Faitfore, Fitoria, Kazuma and Megumin.
Meanwhile with the Bow and Spear Hero
"REN IS DEAD!" both Itsuki and Motoyasu erupted in unison as Myne told them the news.
"Yes, the sword hero was brutally murdered by the devil of shield, with help from the devil of obliteration, The Pope of the Three Heroes Church has informed me of these matters personally, so I know it is true," Bit… wait, I mean Myne twisted the truth like usual, as she hid the smirk she received from their faces contorting into anger.
"That BASTARD!" Motoyasu said with gritted teeth, as he stabbed his spear into the floorboards.
"We will AVENGE YOU REN!" Itsuki swore as he lifted his bow into the air, quickly receiving words of encouragement from his party members of Yes-men/women.
Back to Kazuma
"I am hungry now, would you please prepare the food I have brought with me," Faitfore immediately directed her attention to Kazuma, sensing he had very advanced cooking skills.
"Yeah, I can do that, the others are going to get hungry soon regardless," Kazuma answered as he walked over to inspect the many different food products Faitfore had just been carrying.
"Master, be mindful of the elder dragon," Fitoria warned.
"I meant to ask this earlier, but why is she calling you Master?" Megumin interrogated.
Kazuma turned around and met Megumin's gaze with his own, "Remember that chicken egg Aqua bought, and kept insisting was a dragon?"
"Yeah,"
"Yeah, apparently that one marked me as its master, and this could very well be a reunion," Kazuma explained.
"What if it isn't a reunion?" Megumin asked, causing Kazuma to walk very close to her.
"Then I am not this filolial's master, and there is some other weird reason behind why I have an identical smell marker to what she put on her original master," Kazuma whispered so low that even Megumin that had her ear up to his mouth barely heard it.
"Ok," Megumin quickly retorted as she made a move to walk away, but Kazuma tried to hold her in place.
"Please promise me," was all he was able to utter before Megumin was out of his grip, and quickly walked over to watch Naofumi's training with Dust.
"Kazuma, what's wrong?" Iris asked, with concern clear in her voice.
"She doesn't want to promise me, she will put our children's life above my own if we were to meet Medea unprepared," Kazuma complained.
"Well, I think it comes more down to her not wanting to ever again lose anything to that bitch," Iris said as she rubbed him on the back, and gave him a quick peck.
"Master, could you prepare a dish with these ingredients for me?" Fitoria requested as she brought forward, tomatoes, flour, fresh yeast, salt, cheese, onions and a fatty piece of side flesh.
"Hey, I can make a pizza out of this," Kazuma mindlessly muttered as his {Cooking} skill kicked in.
Meanwhile with Naofumi and Dust
"Good stance, there is a weakness to a strong defense stance though, care to guess what?" Dust took on his role as a teacher much quicker than the others thought him capable of, given his rather shabby looking appearance.
"Hmm, I don't get toppled over if I hold a solid stance, but I do prepare myself to tank an attack, and it could be stronger than I expect, stunning me momentarily," Naofumi guessed.
"Let's see if you are correct," Dust said as he adorned a mischievous grin and prepared an attack stance. "Remember, if my spear touches any of your vital parts, a point goes to me, and if 5 seconds pass without me hitting you, you get a point," Naofumi gave a nod to the rules that Dust put forth, as he got into a battle stance.
"Give us the countdown Raphtalia," Naofumi ordered.
"Ok, 3, 2, 1, START!" Raphtalia shouted.
Dust shot towards him, as Naofumi went into a stance and prepared to take the attack head on, but at the last second, Dust jammed the spear into the ground in front of Naofumi and used his momentum to vault over Naofumi. The plan was to jab Naofumi in the back mid-flip, but a green shield appeared out of thin air and blocked the attack, forcing Dust into an early roll.
"Good counter," Dust complimented, as he went in for a flurry of attacks, that Naofumi forced Naofumi on the defensive. It reminded him of the duel he had with Motoyasu in the past, but at the same time it was on a completely different level. Dust didn't leave any openings for a counter-attack, or at least not any that he had time to spot or predict, he barely had time to block, so he backed up to get some time to collect his thoughts, but Dust didn't let up his flurry of attacks, and forced him backwards.
(Since he wants to attack me so much, let's see if I counter him) Naofumi thought as he activated the {Dog bite} shield, but when the two dog heads went in to bite him Dust was able to keep them at bay as he increased his speed.
(Shield hero, it's time) Naofumi heard in his head, as he allowed the shield to transform into the {Dragon} Shield.
The {Dragon} Shield was the size of a pony, with silvery scales, wings of black metal, the gem was placed in one of its eye sockets, while the other remained empty. However, this didn't exactly turn the battle in Naofumi's favor, because now he was basically unarmed, with a dragon on a 20m leash, and Revalon wasn't used to his new body, so he was very slow and predictable, giving Dust ample opportunity to alternate between dodging Revalon's attacks, and hitting Naofumi with his own.
"I concede," Naofumi said as he put his arms up in the air, making Dust's attack seize on the spot.
"You achieved to get 12 points Naofumi, very well done, and I achieved 127, it's very clear you can hold off an intermediate spear user or better, even if they are stronger than you, but a few pointers for improvement, except for the big obvious one," Dust relayed as he pointed to Revalon with his spear.
"Am I a failure!" Revalon cried out in fear as he saw his great idol point at him.
"Nah, you guys just need to work on your teamwork, because now you just acted independently of each other, but you can't do that, because Naofumi loses almost all of his defense capabilities when you are active, so you have to make up for that, you understand?" Dust said in a tone as if he was talking to a child.
"Yes," Revalon retorted as he lowered his head in shame.
"Master what is the meaning of this, why did your shield turn into a useless dragon?" Filo questioned as she ran up to Naofumi.
"Hey! I am not useless," Revalon yelled clearly offended by her remarks.
"Well, I guess you are right,"
"Exactly I-"
"You are more than just useless, because Master did much better without you," Filo interrupted.
"You little!" Revalon angrily muttered, as Filo's chest started to glow purple.
"AHH, MY CHEST HURTS!" Filo screamed as she bent over.
"STOP IT! Or you are going back into the shield," Naofumi commanded, but Revalon just kept on increasing the glow, so Naofumi kept his word and returned his shield to its base form.
"He answered disrespect with disrespect, but you did good in giving him an honest warning, and delivering real consequences when he didn't listen to you," Dust complimented.
"Never mind him, what pointers did you want to give me?"
"First of all, spear users thrive when they have some distance between themselves and their opponent, so when I was forcing you back, you should try to push towards me, because it restricts my attacks and vision of other possible opponents, showing your shield into my face or spear could win you a fight,"
"Secondly, when you are attacked by magic abilities or strong physical attacks, work on trying to deflect them off you as opposed to wasting your energy on taking the full force of the attack, but remember to be aware of where you deflect attacks so it doesn't hit your allies," Dust summarized.
"You sound like you have taught a lot of people how to fight, are you always this reliable?" Naofumi asked, as he took in the information.
"Well, since you ask, I am-"
"NEVER LIKE THIS!" Megumin interrupted as she walked up to the three while scowling at Dust.
"What have you done to lazy delinquent that always try to get everyone in on your dumb, get-rich-quick schemes, that almost always end in grand failure, I am letting it slide this time since it actually looks like you are doing something honest for once, but if you try to drag my family into any of your problems then you will feel my wrath," Megumin threatened as her eyes lit up red.
Dust gulped audibly as he backed away from Megumin, (Glowing red eyes on Naofumi was strangely endearing, but on her it's just bone chilling)
Meanwhile by the campfire
"Now while the dough is rising, I am going to build a stone oven, Fitoria could you get me a bunch of stones, while I make the mortar,"
"It will be done Master," Fitoria responded before she left a dust cloud behind.
"I know you learned tricks from Vanir back in the day, but how are you going to build a stone oven in less time it takes for the dough to rise?" Iris inquired.
"Excuse me, but I actually have experience with mixing mortar down to a T, and I picked up how to make it set in less than 1 minute from Aqua, making a stone oven couldn't be easier for me," Kazuma bragged, as he created {Earth Golems} to make the mortar for him.
"Since when could you do that?" Iris asked in befuddlement.
"I learned {Golem creation} from Vanir," Kazuma quickly shot in as he laid down on the ground.
39 minutes 46 seconds and 22 milliseconds later
"Ok the first pizza is ready," Kazuma said as he pulled out a onion and bacon pizza, the aroma was unfamiliar, but extremely pleasant for the girls.
Faitfore was basically drooling as she stared upon this new dish, Iris looked at the dish with clear interest, while Fitoria took slow steps towards the pizza never taking her eyes off the delicacy.
"Master, would you allow me to take this?" Fitoria said in a tone that was a bit out of it.
"Eh, sure, I am going to make a lot more regardless," Kazuma answered as Fitoria took the while pizza in her hands and walked a little bit into the forest to be alone.
"Why does she get the whole thing?!" Faitfore complained, in a manner most fitting to her appearance, this delectable dish got carried further and further away from her.
"Behave yourself!" Iris sternly reprimanded as she grabbed ahold of Faitfore's shoulder and gave her a judging stare.
"I-I am not afraid of you, the travel to this world didn't weaken me like it did to you," Faitfore said in a shaky voice.
Iris show a knowing and smug smile to Faitfore as she leaned in and whispered, "If you don't behave I will command Dust to restrict you from ever getting a single bite of Kazuma's dishes," the threat caused Faitfore to freeze up, before she sat down as neatly as she possibly could, and stopped complaining.
"Another one is done, you guys are ok with splitting the pizza, right?" Kazuma said after a few minutes as he presented them with a neatly cut bacon and onion pizza.
"Hmm, I can take one piece for now, Faitfore can take the rest," Iris said as she picked up one piece, and as soon as she had her one piece in hand, the rest of the pizza had vanished, with Faitfore chewing happily.
"She looks like she approves, but what about you Iris?"
"Well, the smell is new and unfamiliar, but in a good way, the only thing that comes close to the smell is-"
"Just eat it already!" Kazuma interrupted as he put another pizza in the oven.
"Geez, ok, I just wanted some time to take everything in before I ate it," Iris chuckled as she proceeded to take a bite of the steaming hot pizza piece, letting out an involuntary moan as the taste of the dish spread around her mouth.
"Huh, note to self: Iris might be into food play," Kazuma muttered to himself as saw how far gone Iris was in her piece of pizza.
"More please," Faitfore said as she looked up at Kazuma with huge puppy eyes.
"Elder dragon, step away from my Master while he is cooking, if you were to interrupt his concentration, while he is constructing such masterpieces, you might very well ruin them," Fitoria said in a commanding tone as she suddenly stood in-between Kazuma and a very hungry Faitfore.
"Based on that I take it you enjoyed your pizza," Kazuma said with a little smugness present in his voice.
"Yes Master, would you like to m-mate with me now?" Fitoria asked, as a red blush appeared on her normally stoic face, as she turned around to meet Kazuma's gaze.
"Eh, what now?" Iris yelled out in shock, as the question brought her out of her pizza trance.
"I simply asked Master if he would like to mate with me, and as I understand it, he already shares a polygamous relationship with both you and Megumin, and I find Master as a most suitable mating partner and would also establish such a relationship with Master," Fitoria explained as she stared back at Iris, now with her usual stone face.
"Fitoria, I am not going to have sex with you, unless Megumin and Iris specifically requests it," Kazuma said as he pulled out another finished pizza.
"Oh, Iris-"
"Ask Megumin," Iris interrupted.
"Ok then, I will go and-"
"Actually scratch that, you can ask Megumin after I have given you permission, which I have yet to do," Iris quickly relayed, stopping Fitoria before she took another step.
"I see, well then I will wait for your permission," Fitoria said with a solemn expression as she turned back to Kazuma, as Faitfore was about to eat the last piece of that pizza.
"YOU GLUTTON!" Fitoria roared as snatched the piece out of Faitfore's hand, before she went back into the forest with the piece of pizza.
Faitfore with a face full of pizza just looked on in horror, as the one piece she wasn't able to stuff in her mouth was taken away from her. The only comfort she had was the pizza already in her mouth.
Naofumi's training
"Hah, hah, I am parched,"
"It's ok Naofumi, your improved a lot, but I still think you need to wait with trying to summon Revalon, at least until you both can work together in tandem," Dust said as crouched down beside his student.
"I am a little annoyed by you not even being little tired, but I learned a lot, so it's fine," Naofumi said while slightly grinning.
"Good, you are done with the training, would you say it was satisfactory, Devil of the Shield?" Vanir questioned.
"Yeah, it was, you surely delivered a very capable teacher, but now to our second part of our deal, give me the dragon parts," Naofumi inquired.
"Hahaha, Moi enjoys the fact that you didn't forget, but fret not, Moi was only making sure this delinquent lived up to the deal, before Moi gave you these dragon parts, here you go," Vanir explained as Naofumi received a tube with 10 long silver hairs.
Naofumi opened the tube and fished out the hairs, and let them fall into his shield where they were absorbed. A new tree unlocked but instead of being given a name to the new shield that was available, it just said: New shield unlocked: {?} Level requirement: {420}.
"Moi sees that you are disappointed, and Moi loves it, but Moi assures you that when you reach the required level, you will be most thankful for this shield," Vanir said.
"Yeah, that is assuming I live long enough to reach that level," Naofumi scuffed.
"Indeed!" Vanir exclaimed as he started to laugh.
"In that case I will only consider this deal as finalized when I reach that level," Naofumi shot in, seemingly knocking the air out of Vanir.
"Ah, Moi remembers why doing business with your family members are so fun, well then until we meet again, Devil of the Shield," Vanir said, as he gestured for Dust to follow him.
Vanir and Dust walked over to Kazuma making pizzas, and just before Faitfore could grab the pizza that just came out of the oven, Dust grabbed her by the collar. Then in less than a second, Vanir had opened the portal to hell, and dragged both Dust and Faitfore with him. However the portal didn't close immediately, since Vanir had a final message.
"Moi would gladly start a restaurant franchise in Belzberg based around this peculiar dish with your name on it, of course your house would get a cut of the money," Vanir proposed.
"65-35 split for my house," Kazuma instantly offered.
"Moi would prefer a 60-40 split of the profit," Vanir counter-offered.
"Deal, but if the business goes bankrupt, my house won't bail you out,"
"Don't worry, such a thing won't happen, since Moi won't allow the useless shopkeeper anywhere near that source of income," Vanir said as he closed the portal behind himself.
40 seconds later in Wiz's shop
A portal opened as Dust and Faitfore walked out. Dust had bound her hair like a blindfold around his eyes. Then Vanir stepped out of the portal as he tossed an overweight man on the floor. His eyes were wide, and he shook violently. The only other person in the shop was Wiz cleaning some potion bottles.
"Oh, thank goodness you came back alive, so did everything work out?" Wiz asked as Dust took off the makeshift blindfold.
"Yeah, we even picked up the child torturer on the way," Dust answered as he pointed to the fat man lying on the floor.
"Hmm, why does he look so relieved?" Wiz asked, as the room started to get colder.
"Well, he was in hell, and now he isn't, I guess I would be pretty relieved if I were in his shoes," Dust answered.
"Moi assures the useless shopkeeper that this scum is scarred for life, so please don't fire off your magic in the shop," Vanir intervened as he started to gesture for Dust to leave with the prisoner, which he promptly did by dragging the man behind him as Faitfore looked longingly back at the still open portal to hell.
"I wanted more of that heavenly pizza," She muttered to herself, before she started to follow after Dust. Then Vanir closed the portal to hell.
1 hour later in the throne room
"So you recaptured the prisoner?" Masaharu questioned as he looked at Dust with suspicious eyes.
"I did indeed," Dust answered as they both looked down at the shaking and frightened man.
"Did you torture him?" Masaharu questioned.
"No, it was more like I saved him from the depths of despair," At Dust's answer Masaharu double-checked the silent-bell in his pocket.
"Very well, since you have made up for your mistake as a guard by recapturing him, you will not be prosecuted, but you are still fired for negligence, you can leave now," Masaharu said as Dust quickly left, relieved at the news.
"So tell me, how did you escape?" Masaharu said as he crouched down to meet the darting gaze of Idol, in response Idol just shook his head as he went into a fetal position.
"TALK MAN, SAY SOMETHING!" Masaharu shouted at the frightened Idol, as he started to whimper and cover his eyes. Such actions from a previously prideful man caused him to pause.
"Until I know how you escaped you will be kept under 24 hour surveillance, do you understand this?" At his words Idol nodded furiously as his eyes started to water.
"GUARDS, TAKE HIM AWAY!" Robin suddenly ordered as she popped out of thin air, two guards grabbed ahold of him as they brought Idol down to a new modified cell.
"Did you just feel pity for him?" She said as she went closer to her brother.
"I just wonder what happened to him, he is so different from when we last saw him,"
"I still just see a fat fuck that harmed children, who cares what happened to him," Robin argued with disgust clear in her voice.
"Someone can't just go around and torture whoever they want, even if that man is despicable he still has basic human rights, I refuse to sink down to that level," Masaharu countered.
"What do you know, you are stuck in the kitchen most of the time, while I am out there in the world actually facing evil people that abuse their power, I get evidence on them, and I make them pay for what they-"
"Robin do you know what happened to him?" Masaharu interrupted, causing Robin to meet her brother's serious blue eyes.
"Of course I don't know that,"
RING! Could be heard from Masaharu's pocket causing Robin's eyes to widen.
"You lied sister, what happened to him?" Masaharu said as he shot his arm up to grab her arm, but she dodged him and backed away.
"I just offered him a way out of the prison, it was his own choice to step into the hell portal," Robin relented.
"You sent him to HELL! That is worse than a death sentence, no wonder he is acting like that," Masaharu yelled back at his sister.
"No, I made Vanir offer him a way out of his prison cell, and into hell, the terms were really clear, it is his own fault for walking into hell," Robin argued.
"Oh yeah, Vanir talked to him about going to hell, the devil knows exactly how to play people to do what he wants, or in this case what you wanted, how many people have you sent to hell by now, 100 or 1000?" Masaharu reprimanded his sister.
"NO! He was the first," Robin quickly shot in to defend herself.
"Well, he is not the first person to torture children, why was he so special," He wanted to dig deeper, this somehow seemed more personal to her.
Robin stayed silent as she met her blue eyes of her brother with her own green. "Because he hurt you!" Robin revealed.
"Excuse me, he hurt me, I know he didn't want to eat my food, but that didn't exactly hurt me, I mean if he wants to only eat hot potatoes for the rest of his life, I will gladly oblige, but how did this lead you to send him to hell? Just seems like a bit of an overreaction to me," Masaharu interrogated further.
"No, he definitively hurt you, or at least someone close to you, I can sense when someone has wronged my family," Robin kept on insisting.
"How can you tell that for certain?" Her brother inquired.
"I think it is a blessing from Eris, for example, I knew when you were being bullied by those noble kids for always wanting to be in the kitchen, so I made them a special cocktail of laxatives until they stopped hurting you,"
"Hmm, well I do appreciate that, but it is a big difference between that and sending someone to hell," Masaharu retorted, while doing his best to avoid chuckling at the thought of 10 prideful noble children, practically living on the toilets.
"What about the girls that made your soup inedible in the cooking contest, causing you to lose, Komekko helped me curse them with always telling the truth, giving you another shot at the contest that you promptly won," Robin said with an infectious smile, causing Masaharu to also smile involuntary.
"Ok, ok, I believe you have that gift, but again, that is not comparable to sending someone to hell," Masaharu said as he chuckled, as he remembered back to the two girls confessing everything to him, one of them even confessed her feelings for him.
"What about last year, someone tried to kill you, so I tracked him down and found all the incriminating agendas and co-conspirators, that I later made mom exile, I saved you from marrying a woman that wanted you dead brother, so I am very effective," Robin said as she got closer.
"Ok, I understand why you did what you did, but hell is just on another level, because it is eternal suffering," Masaharu insisted, much to his sister chagrin.
"Well, it didn't end up being eternal, so what's the big deal?" Robin casually said, as her brother gave her a deadpan stare.
"You intended for it to be eternal, didn't you?" He said with a knowing smile, as Robin averted his gaze.
"Maybe," She answered, trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Just don't do it again, he didn't hurt me in any way, so just let him live with what he experienced, he seemingly went mute so it all works out, but I mean it, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" His tone was serious and demanding, the expression was unusual on his face, but still very fitting.
"Sure bro, but if he tries to kill himself I am not sure anybody is going to try and stop him," Robin said before she vanished into thin air again.
"Eh, that is not my problem," Masaharu shrugged as he went back to his throne.
Back to camp, 3,5 hours later
Everyone had just finished eating the final pizza's, completely emptying out the bags of food Vanir had brought them. The current tally on full pizzas eaten were. It was only those ingredients in the bags, and yes, Kazuma prepared a lot of dough.
Darkness = 2
Filo = 10
Fitoria = 13 + 1/8
Iris = 3
Kazuma = 2
Megumin = 5
Melty = 1 + 1/3
Naofumi = 2 + 1/3
Raphtalia = 2 + 1/3
The 104 other Filolials got a piece of pizza each, Naofumi and Kazuma switched on pizza duty.
"Now Shield Hero, are you prepared to try and converse with the other heroes?" Fitoria questioned as she returned from the forest, after having eaten her last pizza in private.
"Just give us 30 minutes to digest the food," Kazuma shot in as he laid down on a sleepy filolial, then Megumin stood over him, and when she noted that he was napping she laid down next to him, quickly followed by Iris, and lastly Fitoria.
"Aren't you two fighting?" Iris asked in a whispery voice.
"Shush," Megumin only retorted as she snuggled up to him, but when Fitoria lay on top of him, Megumin pushed her off him, leading to Fitoria defiantly climbing back onto Kazuma's chest.
"Leave her alone Megumin," Kazuma suddenly retorted as he wrapped his right arm around her chest and pulled her close. "I'll let you find another way if it comes down to it, but you also need to trust me to find another solution you don't see," Kazuma whispered into her ear, causing her to tighten the hug in response.
Darkness removed herself from the spectacle of everyone snuggling up to Kazuma as she sat down further into the forest. With Naofumi, Filo, Melty and Raphtalia, going over strategy plans.
50 minutes later
Everything of essentials were loaded up on the modified carriage as the party prepared itself to be teleported by Fitoria, to the closest hero available.
"Are you ready for the teleportation to take place?" Fitoria questioned.
"I think so, Raphtalia did you double check our cargo?" Naofumi inquired as she shot him a thumbs up.
"Yep, we are ready," He said as soon as he saw her reply.
"Very well then, hold onto the carriage, and I will teleport you close to another hero," She ordered before a sudden flash of light transported everyone away, except for Megumin, Iris and Fitoria herself.
"Why didn't you teleport us Fitoria?" Megumin interrogated as she gripped her staff tighter, and Iris brought her hand down to her sword.
"I wanted to tell you both something, I don't remember why Master and I go separated all those centuries ago, but I do remember feeling weak, scared and alone the last time I saw Master, I now leave him in your care as I return to my fight my own fights, DON'T LET HIM-"
"Meow," (Oh zip it birdbrain, just teleport us already) Chomusuke interrupted as Fitoria stared with angry eyes at black cat, before a white flash blinded all of them.
"Oh there you are, where is Fitoria?" Darkness asked.
"She said she will be returning to her other duties," Iris answered, with Kazuma nodding in response to the answer.
"Fitoria wanted me to talk with some of the other heroes to try and prove my innocence, and she did say she teleported us close to one of them, so if we are lucky we avoid Mr. Too Prideful and Mr. Too Dumb, and can get a conversation with Ren," Naofumi summarized the ideal scenario.
"Hey I do see someone over by that wall," Kazuma shot-in.
"Can you make out who it is?" Raphtalia asked.
"Yeah, just give me a second, {Farsight}" Then Kazuma saw Itsuki and Motoyasu talking with each other, they both looked properly pissed off.
"So son, how good are your negotiation skills, like from a 1 to 10?" Kazuma questioned rhetorically.
"Ah, fuck, it's both of the idiots isn't it,"
"Yeah, but I do have a plan," Kazuma retorted.
"Well, let's hear it,"
40 minutes later
"Who goes there, declare yourself?" Motoyasu commanded.
(Ugh, so fucking cliché) Kazuma internally groaned.
"Look at that, we meet again heroes," a man with a black and white mask said as he walked forward, with everyone pointing their weapons at him.
"You're the merchant I keep running into, what are you doing here alone without your carriage or your fiancé?" Itsuki questioned as he slightly lowered his bow.
"I come with a request for a friendly conversation, between you and the shield hero,"
"HE HAS BEEN BRAINWASHED BY THE DEVIL OF THE SHIELD, HAVE HIM RESTRAINED THIS INSTANT!" Myne roared as soon as Kazuma had gotten to say his sentence, and the guards quickly followed the order as they forced him to his knees.
"The shield hero can't even brainwash anyone, I mean I couldn't honestly call him a stubborn asshole if he was brainwashing me, but today he didn't come here to be a stubborn asshole, he came here to try and have an open conversation with you guys, so he can try and prove his innocence," Kazuma explained.
"There is no hope for that after what he just did Mr. Essler," Itsuki said as he looked down at Kazuma.
"Hey look at that, you remembered my name bow hero, but what did he supposedly do this time, and I assume it is something new since you just said "What he just did,"" Kazuma inquired.
"He killed Ren, with the help of the devil of obliteration," Motoyasu said with anger clear in his voice.
"What source gave you that information, did you even bother to-"
"I think an account from the pope of the three heroes church is a reliable source," Myne interrupted.
"As I was about to say, did you even bother to ask when the kill took place?" Kazuma challenged.
"No, but I know my party members to be trusted," Motoyasu countered.
"Ok, ok, you don't believe she lies to you, but do you think your party members can't be tricked," Kazuma argued, causing even Motoyasu to become uncertain.
"M-Myne, did you get any information on when they found Ren dead?" Motoyasu stammered as he looked at her with questioning eyes.
"Yesterday at dawn, a giant explosion could be seen as the sword hero and his party got turned to dust, that is what the pope has relayed to me," Myne fabricated on the spot with ease.
"Bullshit,"
"You know what, enough of this, let us see who is under this mask," Myne said with an evil grin as she gestured for the soldiers to remove it.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you, just going to end up being a huge disappointment," Kazuma said as a third soldier ripped off his mask, but he quickly looked down towards the ground before anyone got a look at his face.
"You will look at me," Myne commanded as she forced him to face her, by dragging his head up by the hair.
"WHAT!" Everyone screamed out in unison when they were face to face with, a faceless man. Melty released her hold on his hair, as she stepped away with weird look of disappointment on her face.
"I take it, based on your reactions, that none of you have seen a golem before, made it by myself, didn't bother with the face, so I just covered it up with my mask, oh yeah I am going to need that back {Steal}" The golem yelled, before it disintegrated and the mask vanished from the soldier's hand.
"Well, the jig is up, try talking to them, but prepare for them to attack you as soon as they see you, but don't worry we are right behind you, {Lurk}" Kazuma said, before he, Megumin and Iris vanished from sight.
"Why didn't he conceal you?"
"I can't distract them from attacking you if I am concealed," Darkness quickly answered as she took the vanguard.
"Wait, that is still like a 40-minute walk, let's take the carriage," Naofumi ordered, with everyone nodding in agreement.
10 minutes later with travel by carriage
"Ok, let us walk from here, about 500 meters should keep the carriage out of harm's way," Naofumi deduced as they all started to walk towards the assembled group of idiots.
"HEY GUYS! I AM WAVING THE FIGURATIVE WHITE FLAG OF CEASEFIRE!" Naofumi shouted, but both Itsuki and Motoyasu shot off attacks that Darkness tanked without even budging.
(That barely tingled, stupid armor) Darkness sighed internally as she continued to walk forwards.
"Come on guys I just want to talk," Naofumi tried again, only to be met by another barrage of attacks.
"We won't listen to the devil of the shield!" Motoyasu exclaimed as he shot off more barrages of magical attacks.
"You will pay for what you did to Ren!" Itsuki added as he shot off his own barrage of attacks, all stopped by Darkness.
"I didn't do anything to Ren, the three heroes church is playing you, all of you, and Myne is in cahoots with them," Naofumi said, but they just kept up their attacks.
"I will distract the bow heroes team, you show off what you have learned," Darkness said as she casually tanked another barrage of attacks, before she ran straight towards Itsuki forcing him and his group to change positions.
"Perfect, {Lightning cage}!" Myne chanted as she trapped her own allies, with Naofumi's group, as Itsuki and his group kept on trying to harm Darkness.
"You are actually using a lightning cage?!" Melty questioned with an incredulous voice, in complete disbelief over how stupid her actions were.
"Indeed, and impenetrable prison made out of lighting-" Myne was interrupted as Darkness, "accidentally," dodged one of Itsuki's attacks and jumped straight through the barrier.
"Sorry, excuse me," Darkness said as she slowly walked out of the lighting prison, everyone just looked at the spectacle in pure shock.
One from Itsuki's group was so surprised by the nonchalant behavior of the female black knight that he touched it out of curiosity. This of course electrocuted him into a deep-fried tin-soldier.
"Uh, Never mind that, I will avenge Ren's death, I swear it!" Motoyasu exclaimed, as he got into a battle stance.
"You won't listen to me, because you trust that bitch too much, you big idiot!" Naofumi yelled as he took his own stance.
"Enough of your poisonous words, YOU ARE FINISHED!" Motoyasu declared as he charged in for a strike.
Naofumi deflected the strike as he pushed forward and pinned Motoyasu's hands between his shield and Motoyasu's chest, and when he tried to kick away from Naofumi, Naofumi shot his leg out behind Motoyasu causing him to fall backwards and land on his back. Before Motoyasu was able to get back up, Naofumi was on top of him pinning him to the ground.
"{SHIELD PRISON!}" Naofumi chanted, causing the roof of the prison to spawn directly above Motoyasu, leaving him no room to move.
(That was smooth) Kazuma thought proudly.
"{Zweit fire squall}" Myne chanted, as a barrage of fire shot out towards them
"I won't let that happen {Anti-Zweit Fire squall}" Melty chanted as an umbrella of water absorbed the entire attack. "Naofumi, now!"
"Ok, Filo are you ready?"
"You bet!" Filo quickly confirmed as she rushed straight for the fire-bitch, quickly knocking her out before she managed another chant, and without any of the other girls being able to react in time, they decided to throw down their weapons and surrender. The lighting cage disappeared in the next moment.
"WHY WON'T YOU GO DOWN!" Itsuki yelled in frustration as he sent out more useless attacks.
"Ok, enough of this, {Create water}{Freeze}," Kazuma chanted dozing two girls in water, before they were frozen solid, {Dash} then the next second Kazuma was standing right next to another two placing a hand on one neck each, then he activated {Drain Touch}, causing them both to collapse, {Bind} Kazuma chanted as he pulled out a hairball he had gotten from Chomusuke that bound Itsuki in an instant.
"You just have to show me up, or what?" Naofumi complained with a grin on his face.
"Just a little, {Bind}" Kazuma retorted with a similar grin, as he shot another one of Chomusuke's hairball towards the now free Motoyasu.
Suddenly Filo collected everyone knocked out or tied up in bundle next to Naofumi. "Master quick, bring up all the shields you have, we are going to need everything, NOW!" Filo yelled, clearly distressed.
Everyone huddled up as close as the managed to Naofumi as he started chanting, {Shield Prison}
"We need more, up above!"
"{Air strike shield} {Second Shield}!"
"{Defensive Sacrifice}" Darkness chanted as she placed her hands on the walls of the shield prison.
Then a giant beam of light rained down from the sky, quickly obliterating the shields above the shield ball, before it started to tear away at the ball itself. Even though the ball protected them from the blast, the heat started to rapidly increase, that Kazuma countered with continuously casting {Freeze}.
"Who would've thought I would be using something I learned for cooling myself down on hot summer days for saving my family from getting cooked alive," Kazuma nervously chuckled.
"Just keep chanting!" Everyone still awake yelled at him.
Then the attack finally dissipated, and with that Naofumi's shield prison fell apart. Then slow clapping could be heard from the top of the now newly formed crater they now stood in. Naofumi fell to his knees, tired from the endeavor of holding the shield prison up with Darkness.
"Hee-hee, that actually hurt," Darkness happily muttered to herself as she collapsed.
"Truly remarkable, you just took judgement head-on, an exceedingly powerful move, and yet you are still standing, I would expect nothing less from the "shield hero,"" The pope sarcastically complimented as he emerged from the cloud of dust, with an army of followers behind him.
"Oh look, the pope is here," Kazuma noted.
"That's the shithead that called me a devil in the first place, can I blow him up?" Megumin asked as she started to gather the mana around herself.
"No explosions while pregnant, remember," Kazuma said as he glared at her.
"Just a teeny-tiny explosion, please?" Megumin begged as she gave Kazuma the biggest puppy eyes she could manage.
"No!" He answered resolutely, forcing her to back down.
"Yes, very good, you realize it is hopeless to stand against the will of GOD! Now accept the judgement that stands before you for all the sins you have committed!" The pope exclaimed at the sight of Megumin backing down, totally missing the point of their conversation.
"My sins?!" Naofumi yelled back, taken aback at the incredulous claim.
"Yes, your sins, You deceive the people you encounter leading them to stray from the way of God, which again forces them to turn against their own country, for such transgressions you must be punished severely, NOW PREPARE YOURSELF TO BE PURIFIED BY ME, IN THE NAME OF GOD!" Pope Balmus declared with his arms outstretched.
"What is going on here!?" Motoyasu yelled out in confusion.
"That attack you just used could have very killed both me, the princesses and the Spear hero, you do realize we can't lose more heroes after Ren's death," Itsuki loudly complained from his bound position.
"The princesses of this country, as well as the Spear heroes party, and the Bow heroes party, were brutally murdered by the devil of the shield, at least that is the story the world will be told!" Pope Balmus quickly explained to Itsuki, as his face turned pale at the realization. However, Motoyasu didn't figure out the situation just yet.
"As far as God is concerned, you are all already dead," He continued.
"Hey can someone explain what the hell is going on right now!?" Motoyasu repeated, a bit more anxious this time, but everyone ignored him.
"And if the lives of those who has been marked for death, do finally come to an end, then that means all is right with the world, because God's will has then been realized," He kept fucking monologuing.
(What word am I looking for what this guy is again, hmm) Kazuma thought to himself.
"This man is completely insane!" Raphtalia suddenly spoked up.
(No, not exactly insane, there is another word I am looking for) Kazuma kept pondering.
"Yeah, that logic is pretty twisted… remind me of someone," Melty commented as she looked at her bald unconscious sister.
(Ugh, what was it again, it started with F, ok let me try going down the memory tree, Aqua is the founder of the axis cult, and those guys are fans) "FANATICAL!" Kazuma suddenly exclaimed, "These guys are fanatical, oh sorry, just couldn't remember the word, ignore me," He excused himself as he backed off.
"Royalty is a pestilence, and the same applies to you so-called heroes, in our sacred texts we worship those that save the world and its people from the waves, but this bunch has done more harm than good,"
"THAT ISN'T TRUE!" Motoyasu and Itsuki protested in unison.
"Oh, well then let me mention some of the instances on how you have all harmed this country, for example, The spear hero released a sealed monster upon the world,"
"True," Naofumi muttered to himself.
"The sword hero caused an epidemic due to his negligence,"
"Also true,"
"And the bow hero ignored his duties, choosing instead to serve himself,"
"Pretty accurate so far,"
"Heroes that bring such devastation upon the country and its citizens, while damaging their beliefs, can only be considered nothing else but impostors!" The pope ranted on.
"I only did that because-"
"You know, it's in these scenarios I would like a skip option for conversations," Kazuma whispered to his son, causing Naofumi to nod in agreement.
"Your actions, arrogance and foolishness speaks volumes, just as the sword hero and his party did, when they chose to investigate matters far beyond their station, therefore they forced God's judgement to fall upon them!" The pope said, catching even the attention of father and son, at what was practically a confession to Ren's murder.
"Do you think even the airhead is going to understand the situation now?" Kazuma questioned.
"I wouldn't bet on it," Naofumi answered.
"Wait, does that mean it wasn't Naofumi?!" Motoyasu said in shock at the realization, as everyone stared at him with equally shocked expressions. Some because they couldn't believe how stupid he was, only to figure this out now, while others with less faith in his cognitive capabilities, were shocked by him managing to figure it out.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, this farce has been entertaining but that's enough," Balmus laughed at the realization of how incredibly stupid the spear hero actually was.
Before he then stretched out his right hand to receive a gold sword, from one of his followers.
"The false heroes, the devil of the shield and the devil of obliteration, that cling so desperately to life as if they were cockroaches, shall now be purified with holy judgement, and this country, SHALL FINALLY BE GIVEN RIGHTEOUS ORDER!" Balmus declared as he raised the sword above his head, as it started to glow.
"Watch out, that sword is bad news!" Melty yelled, as Naofumi stepped forth to block the incoming attack.
"{Sacred Lightning Blare}" Iris chanted as she conjured forth a beam of golden light that clashed with the pope's attack, dissipating both.
"Damn, I forgot that my level was lowered, that took more out of me than I had expected," Iris complained as she shook her now tingling hand.
"So it would seem you devils have a few tricks of your own, but it doesn't matter, I look forward to now exact God's vengeance," Balmus said as his sword transformed into a spear.
"Wait a second, did he just turn his sword into a spear!?" Motoyasu exclaimed totally miffed by the event.
"There is only one possibility, that is the replica of the cardinal weapons," Melty explained.
"Do you know how it works?" Kazuma queried.
"Well, a long time ago-"
"I asked how it works, not for a history lesson, and please keep it short," Kazuma interrupted, before Melty could start with any exposition.
"Very well, the replica can transform into any of the four holy weapons, but it does require a tremendous amount of mana to operate, so those attacks just now must have drained a few dozen of his mages for any mana," Melty explained, with an irritated expression.
"That's perfect, we will just let them charge it up then," Kazuma happily declared.
"WHAT!" Everyone exclaimed in shocked unison at his seemingly suicidal idea.
"It's the only thing that is logical, since we don't have anyone with enough spare mana to power it, so we will just let them charge it for us, and then-" Kazuma explained as he did a grabbing motion with his hand, all of his allies dawning a look of understanding.
"Are you crazy? If we let him charge that thing again we are done for, let us free so we can fight him, you don't stand a chance against him just by yourself!" Itsuki yelled at them, but now everyone just sat down and talked casually with each other.
"HAVE YOU GUYS GONE MAD!?" Motoyasu yelled at them, as his two still conscious party members fainted from stress.
"Oh, shut up, we are going to be just fine, just sit back and relax," Megumin retorted as she brought up some snacks, while Raphtalia stretched out a picnic cloth for everyone to sit on.
"BAHAHAHA, They have grown delusional since they can't face the fact that they are about to die, very well then God will now purify you," He exclaimed as Kazuma got into position.
"{STE-}"
"{HUNDRED SWORDS}!" A voice roared as multiple blue swords suddenly appeared and crashed into the pope's magical barrier, making it fall apart and forcing the pope on his knees.
"Your holiness!" His right hand man said in worry as he checked if Balmus was ok.
"It's not possible, he should be dead! Quick bishop, order half of the mages to focus on keeping the barrier alive, to hold off their attacks," The pope quickly ordered.
"At once your holiness," He quickly complied
"REN!" Itsuki and Motoyasu cheered at the sight of Ren standing at the other edge of the crater, before he quickly slid down the hill and cut through the bindings keeping the two other idiots from ruining Kazuma's plans.
"How are you alive, we thought the three heroes church killed you?" Itsuki questioned.
"Me and my party were almost killed, but we were saved by a group calling themselves shadows, that are loyal to the queen, which reminds me, THE QUEEN AND HER ARMY IS ON THEIR WAY, SURRENDER NOW OR BE DECLARED TRAITORS TO THE CROWN!" Ren commanded, causing mild panic to erupt among the mages.
"Do not lose your faith. This is a battle between God and the devil, you knew it would be difficult from the beginning, but do not despair for no matter the cost our victory is inevitable. We won't lose because God has given his blessings to all of us, we have no reason to fear the forces the queen is bringing against us, and it matters not how many false heroes gather, none can defeat us as long as we hold firmly to this weapon and our fate in God!" Pope Balmus spoke with such conviction that all his followers regained their morale, and delusional fate in him.
"{Hundred swords!}" "{Meteor shot!}" "{Meteor thrust!}" The three of them chanted simultaneously, and this time, even with all their attacks combined, they didn't even make as much as a crack in the reinforced magical barrier.
"Ugh, they are ruining my plans, and I am out of hairballs, Iris come here," Kazuma waved her over. "Be a dear and knock them out for me, a quick chop to the neck should do the trick," He whispered into her ear, causing her to grin.
"Ok," Iris retorted, as she in the next second stood next to a knocked out Itsuki and Motoyasu, Ren noticing what she did turned on his heel as he tried to back away from her.
"Have you gone mad, we need to work togeth-" Ren was interrupted as Iris parried his sword with her own and delivered a chop to his neck that promptly knocked him out.
"Dear me, I can hardly bear to watch this, you are fighting amongst yourselves in the face of death, nothing could better exemplify that purifying you immediately is all but too appropriate, fortunately your little squabble has given us time to generate enough mana, farewell false heroes and devils alike," Balmus declared as he charged up another attack.
"Ok, let me just grab that real quick, {Farsight}{Steal}!" Kazuma chanted as he stretched out his hand and pointed it towards pope Balmus, a blue flash emitted from his hand and when it dissipated he held the golden spear in his hand.
"BRIONAC!" The pope chanted as he hilariously thrust his arms forward, before he looked at his empty hands in bewilderment.
"Are you looking for this?!" Kazuma mocked as he waved the fully charged spear around.
"Impossible, it must be a trick!" Pope Balmus roared as his hands remained empty.
"Now Melty, you said this replica could turn into any of the four holy weapons, right?" Kazuma said as an evil grin emerged on his face.
"Yes, that's right," Melty responded.
"Now, wouldn't it be hilarious for me to use this weapon in its shield form, to take out the entire organization that wanted to kill both you and your family with the one thing they despise?" Kazuma said as the spear transformed into a shield.
"There might be some poetic justice in that, that some would find entertaining," Melty responded, as Kazuma got face to face with Naofumi.
"Do you want to take them down together with your old man?" Kazuma proposed as he presented his son with a knitted fist, with the shield replica strapped to the arm of zed fist.
"You don't even need to ask about that," Naofumi responded as he met his father's fist with his own.
"Hey don't leave me out, I also want to be a part of the final attack, I will only add a little mana to the attack," Megumin shot-in as she placed one of her hands on each of their connected fists.
"Ok dear, but only a little bit," Kazuma prespecified, earning an affirming nod from her.
(Wait, the devil of obliteration was seen kissing with someone mistaken for the shield hero, and both devils showcased extreme disgust when someone brought it up, and nicknames like, old man and dear, can only mean that) "YOU ARE THAT DAMNED DEVIL'S PARENTS!" Pope Balmus suddenly realized as he declared it for everyone that was still conscious to hear.
"INDEED WE ARE, AND NOW YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THE MISTREATMENT OF OUR SON!" Kazuma and Megumin yelled out in perfect unison, as they both looked back at Naofumi before they all three came to a silent agreement, about what they should say as they let the giant blast loose.
"{EXPLOOOSIOOON!}" They roared as one entity, making a giant green, red and mostly yellow-tinted blast shoot out, quickly obliterating the barrier protecting Pope Balmus and his followers. First, it pierced through his chest and out his back, were it scattered into a wider angle, turning everyone standing behind him into ash in an instant. But even though Balmus had a giant hole in his chest, he was still standing.
He wasn't able to utter a single word, since his lungs had been burned away. The only thing he was able to do as he fell to his knees, still conscious, was to feel. He felt his singed flesh brush painfully against the wind blowing through his wound. He felt the tremendous anger at seeing the smug faces of that damned Devil's family. However they all paled in comparison to the increasing dread at the knowledge that he only had minutes left to live, and that all his plans of grandeur would die with him here today.
I think that is a great place to end this very long chapter. Ok, quick news, I have exams coming up very soon, so I won't start writing again, before probably after Christmas. On another note, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it took tremendous amount of effort and time to get right. Reviews are always appreciated, especially if it's something constructive. If you don't hear from me before next year, Happy Christmas and/or Happy new year.
Please let it be a good year this time.
